Standing Tall and Straight
by WesPerry
Summary: A serious one-shot starring Bowser. Before the 4th tournament happened, Bowser was sick of losing so much during the Melee & Brawl tournaments. Thinking about quitting and not dealing with any more losses, he takes a vacation where he ends up meeting a fitness trainer friend who might convince him to not give up on participating, and reveal some prideful skeletons in the closet.


**First off, thank you so much if you're reading this. It means a lot to me. I am open to all and any criticism because I definitely want to improve. It has been a while since I've written something. This one shot I made was due to wanting to focus on characters that don't really get the spotlight much in my opinion. That and with the new Super Smash Bros game out, I also wanted to give the spotlight to one of the newcomers as well. Enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy the story and let me know what you think and any criticisms you might have as well. Enjoy!**

**All characters, content, etc, are owned by their respective owners and I do not claim ownership over anything.**

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><p>"I'm sorry Mr. Koopa, but it seems you are still considered... low tier,"<p>

Those words kept ringing through a certain Koopa King's mind as he was laying against a huge bed with large purple blankets covering it and him. It was a couple days after the New Year of 2013 had begun, as this incident began for Bowser. He was wearing an orange night cap, and orange pajamas. He was staring blankly at the large HDTV that was across from him as he mindlessly switched channels as he aimlessly presses buttons on a TV remote he held with his right claws. He was currently in his room at the famous Smash Tower. A building located in New York City that housed the fighters of the famous competition known as the Super Smash Bros tournament ran by a company called Smash Corp that handled and regulated the competition. This building also had many employees who performed various tasks to keep the competition up and running and had two founders whose true identities were known to select people, along with a chairman committee of four people. Bowser along with the other fighters were currently residing there to prepare for the upcoming 4th tournament to be announced later in the year.

He however was not in the best mood at the moment. Sure you can argue he was the type of guy that be in a foul mood a lot due to his plans constantly failing due to a certain plumber and his companions or for some other reason, but today this irritation was much more personal. While he was the type of guy that never gave up and rather try to go against the odds, losing was something he really got miffed at. He hated losing with a passion. He had long accepted that his rival plumber was superior to him in a lot of respects, whenever it came to be a confrontation between the two in their homeland but when it came to fighting others he wasn't the most familiar with, he got tired of getting beat. He thought it was so humiliating. He had sharp claws, the ability to breathe fire, a spiky shell, and a tough attitude. The fact he had suffered losses to little yellow rodents, kids with ESP, a robot that fights by throwing gyros, and many other eccentric fighters has wounded his pride severely.

"I thought I got better with all that training between the Melee and Brawl tournaments," he muttered with despair as he aimlessly continued to flip through TV channels. "I don't get it," he mumbled sounding like he was on his deathbed, thankful no one was around at the moment. He would always have that tough guy persona of himself in public, and make sure no one was around when he was like this, being moody and feeling weak.

During the previous year of 2012, Bowser had asked multiple specialists who specialized in fighting to perform an analysis on him, regarding his performance and position during his participation during the Melee and Brawl tournaments. He has done this every year since joining the competition to see how he would compare to his opponents. The Koopa King was replaying the incident in his mind, as he couldn't shake the feelings of worthlessness that had consumed him since then.

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><p>Bowser carefully walked his way through the large hallway adorned with dark blue carpet flooring with symbols of the famous Smash Bros logo. He soon made his way to a large wooden door that was polished to a great degree. He carefully opened the two doors that led to one of many conference rooms in the building. It was currently Winter in New York, as snow outside was gently falling from the cloudy sky. Many people wearing business suits that had a Smash Bros logo pin on them and had mugs of coffee, tea, and coco in front of them on the table as they turned to face Bowser who quickly sat at the end of the rectangular table present in the room.<p>

"Hello everyone. Thank you guys for doing this for me. Let's cut to the chase. How do I stack up against the competition currently?" Bowser asked.

The various men and women looked at each other with concerned eyes, before one gentlemen ultimately cleared his throat before he began to speak to Bowser.

"Mr. Koopa I regret to inform you that despite your current efforts, it seems that you are still severely outclassed by a majority of the other fighters," he spoke calmly. As they feared, Bowser raised his fist, slamming the table with frustration, causing all the hot drinks to rise up and miraculously fall back into their mugs as if they never came out of their cups to begin with.

"**HOW!? WHY!? WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!?**" he yelled with frustration. He had trained and trained and trained, yet he would never have his moments against the others. He roared into the air, causing some of the employees to drink their mugs with more anxiety plastered on their faces. Some however being used to this by now, stood their ground as they remained not intimidated by this. It was also thankful that every room in the building was built to be soundproof as well.

"Mr. Koopa. We are sorry but that is what our analysis had resulted in." a female employee chirped in. Bowser however was still not satisfied as he continued to roar in annoyance.

"Mr. Koopa. It is still the same conclusion we have had for a while. Many of the other fighters are faster and stronger in various ways. Whether it be their natural abilities, their reaction time, their strengths, and ultimately many factors in general," the man from earlier said. Bowser finally feeling his throat start to feel sore, stopped roaring and took a few moments to breathe. Finally calm, Bowser sighed and began to twiddle his claws.

"So that's it huh? I'm never going to stack up against guys like that effeminate looking prince or that blue cocky hedgehog or that masked cheap punk?" he asked with a slump. Some of the employees were still on the edge of the seat, ready to bolt had things gone awry. Thankfully all employees had insurance provided had anything ever gone wrong.

"Mr. Koopa, it is what it is. Fighters like Marth, Sonic, and Meta Knight have their advantages over you that have yet to be equalized in some way. This is how it is currently," The man from before stated.

"If it's any consultation, your overall performance between the Melee and Brawl tournament is still generally seen as an improvement." the female employee from before still trying to cheer Bowser up. The king simply sighed. He appreciated the sentiment but he knew that he got a little better in the Brawl tournament compared to the Melee tournament already. He wanted to hear himself being better then the others that consistently beat him.

"Just give it to me straight everyone. I'm still considered... you know," Bowser said without much enthusiasm as he dreaded to hear that term said about him. Soon and sure enough, the gentlemen from before said the line that would be stuck in Bowser's mind for the remainder of the day.

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><p>Bowser kept mindlessly flipping through the TV channels until he heard a knock on his door. He slowly got up and lethargically made his way to the door. He opened it and saw another fighter he considered a friend of his. The fat king of Dream Land, King Dedede. A portly penguin who normally wore a royal red coat with a peace sign symbol on the back over yellow robes, a round red cap with gold rims and a white ball on top it, wore large yellow gloves, and wielded a large hammer as his primary weapon. At the moment he was wearing blue pajamas, a blue night cap, and finally blue penguin slippers. Despite Dedede being considered a better fighter then Bowser, the two got along fairly well. While Dedede has never gone to the extremes Bowser had done at times, he did have his moments of mischief.<p>

"Hey Bowser. You ready to come to the restaurant upstairs for dinner? Everyone else is kind of waiting for you and all,"Dedede asked concerned. Bowser simply shook his head for a no. He was simply not in the mood.

"You sure? They're cooking spicy chicken tonight. It's your favorite dish and all," Dedede asked hoping for his fellow troublesome tyrant to come along. Bowser shook his head for a no once more, as he just couldn't bring himself to see the others at the moment. However Bowser's stomach grumbled loudly, indicating it's desire for food, causing Dedede to roll his eyes.

"Well alright. If you're not coming, I'll bring you some food for you after I'm done. I hope you feel better Bowser," Dedede said, and then the penguin left. Bowser closed the doors and went back to bed, and began to aimlessly watch TV again.

"I shouldn't be feeling like this. I feel so darn mopey because of that meeting." Bowser said as he felt the feelings of exhaustion build up.

"Maybe I'm simply not cut out for this. Maybe I should just quit this stupid tournament? It give me more time to focus on my plans and stuff." Bowser grumbled. He yawned as he felt exhausted. He decided to click the TV once more and suddenly saw something that caught his attention.

"Feeling burnout from everyday life? Want to just get away from it all and just relax and enjoy yourself?" a narrator voice came from the TV for a commercial Bowser had never seen before. He nodded as if he was actually being asked these personally. The commercial soon began to show a beautiful island in the middle of the sea. "Then come on down to one of the most popular resorts in the world right now. Wuhu Island! A place where all your troubles go away where you enjoy the lush tropical fun filled environments filled with many great activities! So come on down to Wuhu Island. Where we put fun and relaxation into you!" and soon the commercial ended and the daily program soon followed it up. Bowser shut the TV off and soon stared outside his window at the cloudy gray night skies that still snowed during the night. He soon smiled as he shouted in joy.

"Time for a vacation! Maybe a permanent one!"

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><p>"<strong>SAY WHAT!?<strong>" shouted the chairman committee. The chairman committee consisted of four special individuals who dressed in a particular way. Each one would dress in professional business suits, sunglasses and general attire that consisted of one color. Even their hair was dyed to match that color. One individual wore all red with a name tag that said "CPU1," on it. Another wore all blue with "CPU2," as his name tag, another with yellow as "CPU3," and finally one in all green with "CPU4." as his name tag. Their name tag purportedly stood for "Chairman Person Unit Number," supposedly at the very least. They all sat in large leather chairs designed with their respective colors. Bowser sat in a black chair between CPU1 & CPU3 on a large white roundtable.

"You chumps heard me. I'm leaving the next tournament. I will not be getting my butt kicked in it." Bowser stated smugly in their office.

"Hold it. You agreed to a contract with Smash Corp before the Melee tournament that stated that anyone who makes it, as an official fighter for the tournaments, agreed that they were to come back to future tournaments if requested. You my big spiky shelled friend, signed that contract," CPU1 stated with an annoyed expression.

"Where's that contract?" Bowser asked. CPU2 got up and went to a filing cabinet in the corner of the large room. It consisted of four drawers. He opened the one labeled "Melee," and pulled out a manilla folder from it. He soon sat back down and quickly found what appeared to be Bowser's contract.

"This contract which you signed?" CPU2 stated. Bowser walked up to him, and snatched it out of his hands and quickly looked it over. Bowser however began to tear it to shreds before he threw the ripped remains to a nearby garbage can.

"Non existent as far as I can tell," Bowser said with even more smugness present on his face. The chairman committee looked at each other with confident smirks though in spite of those actions.

"But we have all our documents in our database though," CPU3 stated bluntly. Bowser's face dropped but he quickly regained his composure.

"Whatever. I quit. And you can't do anything to stop me," Bowser said as he turned around and began to leave.

"What about The Master? Or his more crazy brother?" CPU4 asked. Bowser stopped to think about that. Then he shrugged.

"Bah. I can handle those extra large gloves anytime. You are going to have to do better than that to convince me to stay in this stinking tournament. Later," and soon Bowser began to leave once more. However CPU1 said something that finally got his attention.

"How about this? We weren't ready to tell any of you fighters yet, but I'll let you in on something. We decided that we were going to publically announce the 4th tournament on June 11th later this year. And to help promote the announcement, we decided to have one match between two of you guys officially shown at one of the new arenas we currently have ready. How would you like to headline the event? Be one of the two fighters ready to show off the 4th official tournament of Super Smash Bros?" CPU1 said. Bowser stopped in his tracks completely. He couldn't have denied, this was a pretty cool opportunity to show off to the world he admitted.

"Will you even let me pick the chump I can fight?" Bowser asked. They all nodded, seeing no reason to disagree. Bowser in his mind imagined himself pummeling a certain red plumber.

"Alright. I'll tell you what. I'll think it over so for now... I won't quit. But that doesn't mean I necessarily agree to this yet. I just need some time to think it over," Bowser stated.

"That's all we're asking." CPU1 stated. Soon Bowser left the conference room and headed back to his room, to deliberate over the decision. Was this really worth staying for the next tournament? He once again heard a knock on the door in his room. He got up and opened up, and saw King Dedede in his more common attire.

"So I heard you might be... considering to leave the competition and all," Dedede asked. Bowser shook his head for a no and acted like that wasn't the case, but Dedede saw right through the act.

"Come on. Tell me the truth. You want to get out right?" Dedede asked more seriously. Bowser was about to argue but just ended up sighing. He shook his head for a yes. "I don't get it. I thought you had fun during your time in the Melee and Brawl tournaments?"

"I can't handle losing anymore. I just can't. And I know you're going to say in response to that, with the whole I lose constantly to Mario thing but that's different. At least when I lose to Mario, the whole world isn't watching to laugh about it. When I lose to runts like Pikachu or Jigglypuff I feel really embarrassed. And yeah call me a wimp for not being able to deal with not saving face but it's how I feel," Bowser grumbled annoyed.

"Well don't let me stop you if that's what you really want, but you know... we all have our moments where we lose. Even guys like Meta Knight," Dedede explained, concerned for his fellow trouble making tyrant. Dedede left before Bowser could respond and thought hard about that question. He had to admit, even those who were considered better then him had their moments were they faltered. Regardless if he was going to stay or not for the next tournament, he still wanted that vacation at Wuhu Island, so he started to pack his travel bags as he would soon be on his way to the vacation spot.

* * *

><p>Gone was the cloudy gray snowy skies of New York, came the clear starry skies of Wuhu Island as Bowser had finally arrived to the destination during the time of night. As he left the cruise ship carrying multiple travel bags, he took a deep breath as he inhaled the fresh air. He exhaled with a smile on his face as the new location felt relieving. He soon walked towards the nearby hotel and slept for the night, ready to explore the island the next day.<p>

The next day came by and he was having the time of his life. He got to play many sports like golf, bowling, basketball, baseball, and such in peace and enjoyed doing fun new activities that didn't come normally. Stuff like power cruising, wake boarding, parachuting, and even piloting planes around the island. Needless to say the big oaf was having a fun time. It was now slowly turning to evening as the sun was starting to set, and he was now walking around town holding a cup of chocolate ice cream with a black spoon in the cup.

"Oh man! This place is awesome! I can get used to hanging around here. No stupid electric rats to ruin my day. They even have fireworks every night. I can't wait to see them," Bowser said happily with a huge smile on his face. Suddenly someone crashed into him, causing him to drop his ice cream cup onto the ground.

"Hey! Watch where you're going bub!" Bowser yelled. However the person he saw definitely caused his eyebrows to be raised. This guy who had the palest white skin he had ever seen, gray eyes and hair, wore a gray shirt with light blue arches on both sides of it, black shorts, was a bit muscular, and was barefoot.

"I apologize. I was rushing to the gym that I run with my sister to meet with her to catch up with," the male stated calmly. Before Bowser could say anything, the individual ran off. Bowser however wanting compensation for his ice cream, followed the man. He eventually ended up at a big building with multiple floors called the "Wii Fit Studio."

"A gym?" he asked confused. He went inside and was further intrigued by what he saw. It was a very clean space. Giant mirrors adorned the walls with multiple balance bars near them and he saw various exercise equipment arranged neatly depending on the location. He saw the gentlemen from earlier doing talking with another person that looked eerily similar to him. She wore a light blue tank top that exposed her midriff, black shorts, had the same pale white skin like the male, gray hair tied into a ponytail, gray eyes, and was also barefoot. The two were conversing as the male had some travel bags with him.

"Hey pale bub! You owe me new ice cream!" Bowser yelled. Both individuals turned to look at Bowser. The two then turned to each other and quickly conversed with each other privately before turning to face Bowser again.

"Oh. You're the person I ran into before. I'm sorry about that. Why don't I have my sister give you a free session?" the male responded. Bowser raised his eyebrows.

"Free session? In what?" he asked curiously.

"Why in helping you shape up and become fit of course. I do it myself but I'm only here to catch up with my sister briefly. After this I'm heading off to New York to help a lot of people get fit. Do you accept?" the male individual asked.

"Ummm... sure?" Bowser replied confused. This wasn't exactly the compensation he had in mind. The male nodded. He then turned to face his sister, and they both hugged briefly. The male picked up his travel bags and left, and Bowser was left with the female.

"So what are we going to do exactly Ms...what's your name?" Bowser asked still feeling unsure of the whole situation.

"You can call me Ms. Fit. Also I believe you are the Smash Bros fighter Bowser? I've seen you in matches. Don't worry, I'm here to help you get better fit for the future," she replied in a friendly tone. She walked up to Bowser offering a friendly hand shake. He shook it and looked around even more and noticed stairs on the end of the long room.

"So what's in the rest of this building?" he questioned.

"Well in this floor, we mainly focus on doing activities like yoga and strength training to help our guests. In the other floors we have different activities present. We have a dance floor, we have floors for activities for improving balance, and floors for activities that revolve around aerobics. We allow our guests to pick the activities they want to do, to help improve in the areas they want for themselves. What would you like to focus on working on?" the fitness trainer explained.

"Well Ms. Fit... when I usually train by myself, I usually do a lot of weight lifting and stuff so I'm pretty sure I got strength training down. I don't really dance unless I'm in the mood though I do enjoy it, and I make sure to not go overboard with the fatty food as of late so I don't need aerobics. I feel fairly balanced I guess... so I guess I'll do yoga? I never did any of that stuff to be quite honest. Looked ridiculous to see people doing all those stupid poses," Bowser explained.

"Well yoga can help out in a lot of ways. For example, posture is something that gets a big improvement from yoga." Ms. Fit explained.

"Posture? Eh. I always slouched as a kid growing up. I don't particularly see what the big deal is to be honest," Bowser grumbled, not seeing the importance of it all.

"Well Bowser, I highly disagree with what you just said. It can also help tone your muscles as well. Anyway, why don't you come back tomorrow in the afternoon? I'll be here ready to help you with yoga. Looks to me you're in desperate need of improving your posture considering you're hunched over as if you lived in church of Notre-Dame." she responded.

"Sure. I guess I can give it a shot," he responded. The fitness trainer smiled and gave the king a thumbs up to show her appreciation. Bowser soon left to head back to the hotel to catch the fireworks for that night and get ready for some yoga the next day.

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><p>Looking directly at the mirror, Bowser felt really dumbstruck of how he somehow had never noticed till now. He really did look like a hunchback, as his posture looked downright awful for someone like him. It looked as if his back was ready to break anytime.<p>

"Was my posture... always like this?" Bowser asked wondering if he was that oblivious.

"From the matches I've seen of you during the Melee and Brawl tournaments... yes. During both tournaments, your posture was always in that kind of position during your matches. Before we begin, did you do some general stretching all around your body? It's important to stretch before and after any exercise session to prevent injuries and keep your body flexible," Ms. Fit explained.

"Of course. I'm not that big of an idiot...well what are waiting for? Let's do those stupid yoga poses already." Bowser said.

"Of course. Now why don't we start with some deep breathing. First let's-" but before she could continue, Bowser started groaning at what he just heard.

"Deep breathing!? What the heck? I didn't come to waste my vacation time here to do breathing of all things," Bowser whined. The fitness trainer however simply shook her head, and gave the troublesome tyrant a reassuring smirk.

"Now Bowser. Everything has a reason. I know it may sound odd but deep breathing has it's place. Let's start with one major technical detail. Improving your metabolism, which this helps with, is a good thing. Now besides that, for me personally, a person has be calm and in the right state of mind in my opinion to do anything properly and that goes for yoga as well. Deep breathing helps someone relieve their stress and calms them down. A relaxed state of mind is preferable to one that is just negative in comparison. Plus I think you rather be calm as opposed to anxious or frustrated no?" the fitness trainer explained. Bowser could not definitely deny one thing about this individual, this fitness trainer knew her stuff when it came to fitness and health related knowledge.

"Alright you know it all fitness guru, you win. Let's do some deep breathing," Bowser replied. She nodded with a smile as she begin to tell Bowser what to do. Soon the king found himself holding his hands over his stomach and found himself calmly inhaling and exhaling air through his mouth, copying the female fitness trainer's actions, and was careful to not accidentally breathe fire and torch the establishment down.

"Great job. Just a suggestion for the future, I would recommend trying to breathe air through your nose as opposed to your mouth if you can." she said. Bowser rolled his eyes as he felt another lecture coming on as he now had a question to that.

"Why's that? Do I look like a stupid mouth breather or something?" Bowser asked, thinking the fitness trainer was going to insult his intelligence. She shook her head for a no, and warmly smiled.

"No it's not that. Breathing through your nose has benefits to breathing over your mouth from a medical point of view." she explained. "Let me give you one easy example why breathing through your nose is preferred to breathing with your mouth. Have you ever woke up in the morning with the insides of your mouth generally feeling very dry, irritable, in need of something to relieve that like drinking water?"

"Actually as of late... yeah. I kind of wake up with a pretty dry mouth and in need of water pretty badly. Why is that?" Bowser asked feeling his mouth tense at what she just said.

"It's because the air you breathe through your mouth dries and irritates your mouth and body in general. People who breathe like this tend to make conditions like asthma worse. When you breathe through your nose, it regulates and controls the air coming in with factors such as temperature and filtering the air content." she stated calmly. Bowser was once again impressed by her level of knowledge.

"Wow... you're pretty darn knowledgeable about a lot of stuff I have to admit," he praised. She shrugged thinking it wasn't a big deal.

"Thank you. Besides being a certified fitness trainer, I've been doing a lot of researching and such into health related matters in general. I've also been considering lately to also become a proper certified nutritionist. I really like to help people live a healthier lifestyle." she replied kindly. "But I think it's time for us to get back onto our yoga session. Now that we've done our deep breathing, why don't we try the tree pose? It's know for helping you build your back and legs," She calmly placed her hands to the side and sighed quietly, preparing what to say and what to do.

"First, why don't you watch me do it before we have you try out. For this pose, you will balance on one leg. This helps build leg strength. This pose is a great way to stretch your back as well. While inhaling, grab your left ankle and place your foot on your right thigh," and she did exactly as she said. "Once you are stable, bring your palms together in front of your chest. Raise your hands toward the ceiling and relax your shoulders so that they are parallel to the floor. From here you stretch your back, being careful not to let your hips stick out," she continued performing the procedure she described. "From this point on you inhale and exhale for thirty to forty seconds. Finally you exhale and lower your arms and leg, returning to a standing position. From here you do the same thing but by placing the right ankle instead of the left, and placing it on your left thigh as opposed to the right. You then repeat as many times as you want," and she finished off the demonstration doing the pose with her right ankle placed on her left thigh and performed it with no issues.

"That looks easy. I can do that with no problem!" Bowser boasted, though in reality he felt a twinge of dread for some reason.

"Great to hear that. Why don't we begin then?" she replied. Bowser nodded. He slowly raised his left ankle and placed it on his right foot. However he immediately toppled and fell to the ground comically. He growled in anger and quickly got back up reattempting the pose only to immediately topple over again. He pounded the floor with his fist and had steam coming out of his head. He then attempted to place his right ankle on his left foot, and tried to pose in that way. But alas, he only fell over, to his disappointment.

"If you don't feel stable, feel free to lean on objects or-" but she was cutoff when Bowser immediately interrupted her.

"No! I can do this stupid tree pose on my own!" he yelled as his pride felt wounded. He then looked at the balance bars nearby the mirrors and turned away. He refused to do this with the balance bars. Ms. Fit looked very concerned as Bowser then kept doing the tree pose, only to keep hitting the ground consecutively.

"Maybe we should try something else? No shame in-" but she was interrupted once more as she then heard what sounded like a combination of a roar and a cry. She looked even more concerned then before.

"**NO!** I refuse to leave till I do this pose! I refuse to give up!" Bowser roared as he kept on trying to do the pose only to keep falling. His breathing got shorter and shorter as he was obviously exhausted from the repeated attempts and falling onto the ground. He tried one more time, and ultimately fell again. Just laying on the floor.

"I can... I can do this. I know I can. I know I can do...this" he whispered and whimpered as he was feeling tears threaten to leak from his eyes. Ms. Fit walked towards the big guy, and sat down next to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked very concerned. Bowser stayed silent as he quietly got off the ground and sat down exhausted and frustrated. He looked away from her, feeling ashamed and embarrassed by what she just witnessed.

"Do I look alright!? I should have just let the ice cream compensation thing go. Cause now my vacation which I was enjoying before has turned into a session where my emotions gets crushed by my constant failure. This is only day two! What the heck?" Bowser grumbled who was feeling so embarrassed and ready to cry. He started sniffling and covered his face with his claws, refusing to let her see his face. However he soon felt a warm embrace envelop him from behind.

"What... what are you doing?" Bowser asked confused.

"When I was growing up, I wanted to help other people better themselves as a profession. Right now... I'm here to help you emotionally," she said as she carefully hugged the big guy from behind, as she didn't want to get impaled by his spiky shell. Bowser took his claws off his face and just looked at her with awe. It stayed this way for a while as time passed and the evening sky was beginning to settle in. Soon she stopped hugging him, and the two just sat down ready to talk.

"Good thing you're calm now. Your breathing seems more steady now. Why don't we just... talk right now? Let's call it a day for training and just converse? You and me." Ms. Fit asked sympathetically. Bowser nodded. "Well Bowser... if you don't mind me asking, why were you so reluctant to not used the balance bars to help support you earlier?"

"Because... I want to prove to the world I can do things on my own without any help," he replied.

"Why?" was her simple yet curious response.

"Because if I rely on stuff or others, then I'm really not accomplishing it with my own skills. Isn't that true?" Bowser replied. Ms. Fit however shook her head for a no.

"That's not true. People have always relied on each other. Many great accomplishments have been due to team efforts. I mean... well while you shouldn't be doing this, don't you let your infamous Koopalings and son help you out time to time with your evil plans?" she stated.

"That's different! They wanted to come along and help me those times. I never asked them to get involved," Bowser replied.

"Okay but aren't you relying on me? Since I'm being your fitness trainer at the moment," she asked.

"Well that's... you make yet another good point. Huh... I never thought of it that way," Bowser said, surprised at this revelation.

"I thought you told me you worked out in the past? You never did it with anyone else to help support you?" she asked. Bowser sheepishly smiled, feeling embarrassed to answer this.

"Well to be blunt, I'll say the following. I always worked out alone and with no one else around. That's how it was, plain and simple," he answered back.

"I see. Is their a reason you want to prove why you want to do accomplish every thing on your own?" she asked.

"When I was growing up, everyone had extremely high expectations of me. That was because I was going to be the next king of my kingdom. Of course a lot of people also had this idea of me having it easy just because I was born into my royal life. So I wanted to prove them wrong and show the world that I can be independent and not just some guy who got everything handed to him. That's why... well you saw how I was acting before." Bowser answered.

"Well I hope you feel better now," Ms. Fit asked. Bowser nodded. He did feel a little better compared to before.

"Hey... I don't say this often so you better listen up because I'm going to be only saying this once at this moment. I'm... sorry about acting the way I did before when it could have easily been resolved." Bowser said very sincerely.

"It's not a big deal. We all have our moments where we lose it. But thank you though," she answered with a kind smile.

"Yeah well... you better tell no one about this, or this studio will go down in flames if you catch my drift!" Bowser said quickly, trying to act tough. Ms. Fit started giggling at what she just heard and nodded back in response.

"Don't worry about it. My lips are sealed for this and any other secrets you ever wish to discuss," she replied.

"Good. Cause I feel like talking about one more thing I want you to keep secret. I had one more reason to act the way I did. That inability to do that tree yoga pose reminded me of my constant consistent losses during the Melee and Brawl tournaments. I don't take failure pretty well," Bowser stated. "And to be quite honest, I don't feel like participating in the next upcoming tournament,"

Ms. Fit quietly digested the information she heard. She wanted to make sure, she understood where Bowser was coming from, before trying to give more advice.

"Bowser, you need to understand that in life, we have moments that kick us down. But part of life is learning to get back up from them and move on. From what I've seen, you generally did better in the Brawl tournament compared to the Melee tournament. I think it be a shame for you to miss out on a huge opportunity like the next Smash Bros tournament, whenever that ends up happening," she said.

"I know that. It's just hard and difficult to accept stuff like that. I personally feel I still could be a lot better." Bowser said, feeling this whole conversation made him sound like a wimp for not wanting to tough it out in another tournament.

"Well you learned from your experiences right in the Melee tournament right? You probably learned from your experiences from the Brawl tournament as well. Those experiences will help you be ready for the next one." she explained.

"I don't know. Will I truly make a significant improvement when it comes to fighting in the next tournament?" Bowser questioned.

"That's the thing about life. We don't know where it will take us till we get there. Ultimately I can't force you to go participate if you don't want to do so. I'm a very friendly and laid back fitness trainer who never even yells at her clients and I understand if you don't want to do it. But how about this? If you decide to participate in the next tournament, besides helping you out with yoga, why don't I train you to be stronger, faster, and better in general till the next tournament? Not just yoga but strength training, aerobics, balance, and such? After all, my profession is to help people better themselves." she answered.

"You wouldn't mind training me? I don't know. I doubt you ever had to deal with a cantankerous giant like me before," he asked.

"Well like they say, being open to new experiences is a good thing. Plus I doubt you ever met someone as pale as me and my brother before," she joked.

"Touche. I guess I'll have to try relying on you huh?" Bowser asked. She smiled and gave the big guy another hug. This time he returned it. After the hug, Bowser looked more confident then he did before, with the biggest grin he has had in a while.

"That's the spirit! Heck, I bet if we manage to make the tree pose work for you in the future, maybe you'll be good enough to start giving your opponents dropkicks like a wrestling star," she said with much enthusiasm. Bowser started to visualize himself giving dropkicks to Sandbag, back at the gym in Smash Tower.

"Let's do it then! Starting tomorrow I'll properly rely on you and get fit! Then I'm going to come back and go wreck some chumps in that next tournament!"

* * *

><p>A lot of time has passed since that day. It was now June 11th and was currently nighttime. Earlier that morning, the 4th official Super Smash Bros tournament was officially announced for sometime next year. A special exhibition match was being held at one of the new arenas to give the world a taste of the new action. This new environment was the Boxing Ring at Madison Square Garden. Normally where amazing boxing matches would be held between many powerful and unique boxers, has also officially became one of the new Super Smash Bros arenas as part of the new tournament. The Boxing Ring which was normally covered in purple tarp and covered with the World Circuit WVBA (World Video Boxing Association) logo, now had blue tarp and had the Smash Bros symbol imprinted on it. The seats were completely filled with fans cheering and excited to see the first match. In a locker room filled with orange lockers, Bowser was looking at himself at a big mirror. After many months of training due to what he felt was one of the best fitness trainers in the world, he was proud of the new version of himself. He was no longer hunched over and was standing straight. His whole body in general felt refreshed, energized, and raring to go. He even felt his reptilian skin was showing more color lately due to the healthy lifestyle he had been supported with. His confidence felt off the roof.<p>

"This is it Bowser. You ready?" a familiar voice from outside the locker room shouted. Bowser looked at himself in the mirror one last time, before he left the locker room, only to see a familiar pale skinned female fitness trainer.

"Yep. It's now or never. Thanks so much Ms. Fit. I owe the new me, to you. I'll definitely visit you at Wuhu Island at your studio for whenever I'm free," Bowser stated as he gave the fitness trainer another hug. She hugged back and smiled.

"Thank you. Now it's your time to shine! I'll be at the stands with my brother, watching and cheering you on. Go show the world what you're made of!" she cheered with happiness. Bowser nodded and quickly made his way towards the Boxing Arena. The fans were cheering wildly for both Bowser and his opponent tonight. Soon an announcer came due to the intercom system in the huge arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight we show off the first ever exhibition match for the next official Super Smash Bros tournament! Tonight we have veteran Mario facing off against veteran Bowser in what's sure to be a spectacular match! No time limit, three stocks, and no items. Who knows what surprises will happen during this match? Now let's get ready to **SMASH**!" the announcer announced with huge enthusiasm. The crowd roared with excitement as both Mario and Bowser ran from both sides to the Boxing Ring. Bowser was now sprinting and no longer shuffling along the ground with his shell to get around fast. They both jumped onto the ring. Mario immediately tried to go for a flamed punch. Bowser guarded it, and then he immediately gave Mario a dropkick, surprising the plumber and everyone watching.

"Whoa! Bowser has been hitting the gym!"

"That drop kick was legit! Looked like something like Andore the Giant would do when he wrestled!"

"That came out so fast. Holy crap!"

The environment roared with even more noise. Bowser smirked as he saw the plumber's reaction. Mario landed on his feet and stared down Bowser. However just that moment, a bug catching net just caught Mario from behind, surprising everyone watching. What appeared to be a young man with big black eyes, brown hair, a red triangular nose, a red shirt with a cyan one labeled on it, black shorts, green socks, and blue sneakers appeared. He then threw Mario towards Bowser's direction, hitting the king as he was too dumbfounded by what he saw to move. Mario himself was confused as well, as both fighters stared at the newcomer that entered the ring. Bowser quickly shook his head, to focus on the match, picked up Mario and quickly threw it toward the newcomer's direction.

"Only in Smash Bros. Let's see what this new guy is made of!" he yelled out. In the stands, both the fitness trainers were watching the match. Enjoying the spectacle that continued.

"So I see that he's been compensated for his ice cream very well," the male fitness trainer asked to his sister.

"Yep. He'll be an awesome fighter. By the way, how did training your clients at New York go?" she asked. The male fitness trainer smirked as he turned to face her.

"Well... when I got hired by Smash Corp to train their fighters, I got to say it was a huge break for us." he replied.

"How so?" she asked curiously. Her brother then took out two envelopes that had red wax seals with the Smash Bros symbol.

"Let's just say we're both going to be training fighters for the fourth tournament a lot longer then we thought," he said with a huge smirk. Ms. Fit had a gentle smile come from her face from the news.

"I guess I better be ready myself. Because I trained that monster truck out there that is kicking some butt right now," she said with excitement. Both pale fitness trainers returned to resume watching the match that was the talk of the world for quite the time. Needless to say, Bowser was now standing straight and tall, in more ways than one thanks to some outside help he would eventually be facing off with and getting along with for a long time.

**THE END  
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* * *

><p><strong>So what did you all think? I hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know if you want to, and like I stated before, definitely open to criticism. You may have noticed that first trailer for the new game had a lot of influence for this idea, along with Bowser's new look for Smash Bros for 3DSWii U.  
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**Anyway, thanks so much and best of luck with whatever you're doing at the moment as well. Thank you!  
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